http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/11/13/LIONS-FOR-LAMBS-Not-A-Movie-For-These-Times.aspx Robert Redford’s LIONS FOR LAMBS is a no-frills film with a liberal message and a lot of ambition.  It is also a star-filled affair, with Redford, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise driving much of the dialogue laden plot.  The film’s great error was in failing to show the audience much of anything while instead counting on A-list actors’ long-winded speeches to do the convincing.  It doesn’t work. LIONS FOR LAMBS is a motion picture admonishment of both the current administration and the apathetic American public.  The film is not an epic war drama nor is it a political thriller.  It’s simply a collage of conversations had by different people about the same thing.  As a result, what Redford probably thought was a straightforward and poignant call to action is actually a talky and preachy mess. Let’s start with the most painful conversation of them all.  Redford’s character is an idealistic professor at “A California University” (I’m not even joking; that’s what the subtitle said) who invites a good looking but seemingly average student into his office to discuss the young man‘s potential.  Redford is upset with the student’s attendance record and general apathy toward learning because the young man previously showed so much promise.  In flashbacks, we see the student engaged in a class discussion that does nothing to substantiate the Redford character’s but I digress.  They spend the entire movie rapping back and forth about whether it’s worth even caring in the current political climate.  The professor thinks it is.  The disaffected student thinks it isn’t.  In a movie full of blunt and heavy-handed lessons, this is the most clichéd, didactic and grueling one of all.  The conversation between these two is so generic and obtuse, it is unbelievable. en-US Critics Rant info@criticsrant.com Subtext Version 1.9.4.0 http://www.criticsrant.com/images/default_gravatar_bullhorn.png http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/11/13/LIONS-FOR-LAMBS-Not-A-Movie-For-These-Times.aspx 77 60 http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/11/13/LIONS-FOR-LAMBS-Not-A-Movie-For-These-Times.aspx#2452 very boring dont waste your money WAVELYN http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/11/13/LIONS-FOR-LAMBS-Not-A-Movie-For-These-Times.aspx#2452 Fri, 07 Dec 2007 20:19:18 GMT